Medical Information Event Manager

Abstract

An event management system and method detects the occurrence of events as a function, at least in part, of information and data gathered from monitoring one or more patients with a medical information system. Event detection processes can be defined and then triggered to cover any of a variety of circumstances. For instance, event detection processes can be defined that, when triggered, indicate that a certain patient (or patients) would make a suitable candidate for that clinical trial, a patient is a candidate for a certain type of treatment, or hospital resources are being utilized in a certain manner. That is, such events may relate to the efficiency or inefficiency in use of certain resources, or such events may concern usage under certain circumstances.

1 . An event management system, comprising:
 an event manager configured to be executed by at least one electronic device, said event manager comprising:   a statement customizer for constructing one or more user-defined statements which define parameter-based tests or conditions, each of said statements configured to test at least one logical criterion; and   an event customizer for defining an event detection process and associating a set of said statements with said event detection process, and for defining an event test condition and at least one event action, wherein the set of statements provides information for a scheduled execution of the detection process.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one event action is the generation of a text message configured for presentation on a display. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one event action is the generation of a text message configured for presentation on a display of said medical information system. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the event management system and the medical information system share at least one electronic device. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said event management system is accessible by a wireless device. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said event management system is configured to couple to said medical information system via a network. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said event customizer is configured to associate each statement from said one or more statements with more than one event detection process. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an event detection process tester, configured to execute said event detection process using prior patient data.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , comprising an analyzer to determine satisfaction of said test condition as a function of satisfaction of one or more criteria of said set of statements, wherein said one or more criteria is associated with candidacy requirements for inclusion of a patient in a clinical trial. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one criterion is associated with a medical condition of a patient and said event action includes an identification of a treatment for said medical condition. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one criterion is associated with use of one or more medical information system resources and said event action includes an identification of one or more inefficiently used resources. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one event action is transmission of a signal configured to terminate a monitoring process by said medical information system. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one event action is transmission of a signal configured to begin a monitoring process by said medical information system. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said event customizer is configured to associate a secondary event detection process with said event detection process, wherein said secondary event detection process is chosen from a set of previously defined event detection processes. 
     
     
         15 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . A method of establishing event management, said method comprising:
 interacting by an electronic device with a medical information system, including receiving patient data from the medical information system;   enabling construction of one or more statements which define parameter-based tests or conditions, each of said statements configured for testing at least one logical criterion; and   defining, the electronic device, an event detection process, including associating a set of said statements with said event detection process, and defining an event test condition and at least one event action, wherein the set of statements provides information for a scheduled execution of the detection process.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said at least one event action includes generating a text message configured for presentation on a display. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said at least one event action includes generating a text message configured for presentation on a display of said medical information system. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the event management system and the medical information system share at least one electronic device. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said interacting includes coupling to said medical information system via a network. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said each statement from said one or more statements can be associated with more than one event detection process. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising testing the event detection process by executing said event detection process using prior patient data. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 19 , comprising determining satisfaction of said event test condition as a function of satisfaction of one or more criteria of said set of statements, wherein said one or more criteria is associated with candidacy requirements for inclusion of a patient in a clinical trial. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said at least one criterion is associated with a medical condition of a patient and said at least one event action includes an identifying a treatment for said medical condition. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said at least one criterion is associated with use of one or more medical information system resources and said at least one event action includes an identifying one or more inefficiently used resources. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said at least one event action includes transmitting a signal configured to terminate or initiate a monitoring process by said medical information system. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said defining an event detection process further includes associating a secondary event detection process with said event detection process, wherein said secondary event detection process is chosen from a set of previously defined event detection processes. 
     
     
         31 - 33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . A system comprising:
 a graphical user interface;   one or more devices for storing or collecting patient data; and   a processor being configured to process instructions that causes the graphical user interface to:
 receive an input that defines statements associated with parameter-based tests or conditions, each statement being configured to test at least one logical criterion; 
 enable the user to identify an event to be detected in association with the patient data, wherein enabling the user to identify the event includes defining an event detection process associated with a set of the defined statements; 
 receive an input that defines a scheduled time for executing the event detection process; and 
 display to the user one or more messages associated with the execution of the event process. 
   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the set of statements define an event test condition and at least one event action for the event detection process. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user graphical interface is configured to display messages related to a current patient and/or a past patient. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user graphical interface is configured to display messages related to multiple patients simultaneously. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user graphical interface is configured to receive comments from the user regarding a detected event. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to provide options for activating the execution of the event detection process. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to enable assignment of the event detection process to a selected group of patients. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to display a patient-event tree. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to display a list of event detection processes and to enable selection of one or more of the event detection processes from the list. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to enable detect validation of an event after executing the event detection process. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the user interface is configured to receive input for defining a secondary event detection process. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein receiving the input that defines statements is in response to providing a step-by-step guide. 
     
     
         46 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a user interface, an input that defines statements associated with parameter-based tests or conditions, each statement being configured to test at least one logical criterion;   enabling the user to interact with the user interface to identify an event to be detected in association with patient data stored or collected by one or more devices, wherein enabling the user to identify the event includes defining an event detection process associated with a set of the defined statements;   receiving, by the user interface, an input that defines a scheduled time for executing the event detection process; and   displaying, by the user interface, one or more messages associated with the execution of the event process.   
     
     
         47 . A computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable storage device, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a processor to:
 receive, by a user interface, an input that defines statements associated with parameter-based tests or conditions, each statement being configured to test at least one logical criterion;   enable the user to interact with the user interface to identify an event to be detected in association with patient data stored or collected by one or more devices, wherein enabling the user to identify the event comprises defining an event detection process associated with a set of the defined statements;   receive, by the user interface, an input that defines a scheduled time for executing the event detection process; and   display, at the user interface, to the user one or more messages associated with the execution of the event process.